First off, we'd like to apologize. For the first time in the Farmers' Almanac's 190-year history, our annual weather forecast will fall short of its usual 80-85% percent accuracy rate. Unfortunately, our publisher mixed up the geographic zones in our 2007 edition and, as a result, the following Weather Zones were switched by mistake:
Forecasts for Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Quebec are actually the forecasts for the Southeastern United States.
Forecasts for the South Central United States are actually the forecasts for the Northwestern United States.
Forecasts for the Great Lakes and Midwest States are actually the forecasts for southern Latvia.
Please adjust your weather planning accordingly.
The Farmers' Almanac regrets this inexcusable lapse in our high editorial standards. Those responsible have tendered their resignations. For more information about the error, or to request a refund for your 2007 edition of the Farmers' Almanac, go to our online Q&A.
Happy April Fools' Day!
Did you ever wonder how April 1st, better known as April Fools' Day, came to be known as a day for pulling pranks?
Legend has it that April Fools' Day began in France in 1564. Prior to that, April 1st had been celebrated as Near Year's Day. Those who insisted on celebrating the "old" New Year's Day became known as April fools, and were the butt of many pranks. Since then, it has become commonplace to play jokes on others during the first day of April.
Some people believe this day of fooling is also a tribute to Mother Nature's ability to play tricks on us. Though the calendar tells us it's spring, snow storms sometimes sneak up on us in April and late March, when we've stopped expecting them.
With Easter on the horizon, Peter Cottontail will soon be hopping down the bunny trail. But how did the Easter Bunny get his start? Find out in an excusive Farmers' Almanac article.
From Shivery to Showery
This year, the Farmers' Almanac warned of a shivery winter, but what about the rest of the year? With spring officially underway, showers will soon replace those shivers. For most sections of the country, the Almanac predicts multiple thunderstorms and squalls throughout the coming months.
Easter egg hunts this year may have to be moved indoors, as most of the country can expect stormy and unsettled weather in the days surrounding Easter Sunday.
For more information about weather, or to check your zone's weather prediction, visit our online weather pages. And be sure to consult your Farmers' Almanac for the best times to garden, fish, picnic, and more. The Almanac is full of timely spring tips!
Before you hit the garden...
Now that gardening season is here, make carrying your tools easier with our Farmers' Almanac Garden Tool Bag.
Tony and I took a drive through the country the other day, just the two
of us. It's always so good to just enjoy having time to just catch up
with each other and enjoy the scenery. Anyway, as we were driving, he
took me through a local Amish area where many of his customers live.
I've got to admit I was kind of surprised. So many of them had
beautiful homes with gorgeous landscaping. I guess I was just
expecting plain white frame houses. They certainly would have fit right
in with many English neighborhoods!
Only the names like Yoder,
the horse and buggies in the drive, the lack of electric poles, and
families wearing the Amish clothes gave them away. It was interesting
to see the young men in buggies, the girls walking down the lane
together, and the little boy and his dad outside grilling. I don't
know why I thought that was odd that they were out there grilling. I
guess I just have this image of the womenfolk cooking on a primitive
woodstove in my head.
You'll get a kick out of this sign though. It was posted at the entry to one of their pork farms.
I just had to share the funniest story with you all. One of my friends lives in a rental house right in the middle of a neighborhood. She wants to live in the country and they've bought some land, but for the time being they are in a neighborhood with a fenced in backyard.
So anyway, a homesteading friend stopped by for a visit there and had 2 goats in a trailer. It was too hot for them to stay in the trailer so they decided to just put them in her backyard. Her boys were getting such a kick out of it that they asked if they could keep the goats for the weekend. The homesteading friend needed some time to get her fencing fixed anyway so they decided to let the goats stay.
It was actually quite humorous to pull up to her house and to have 2 goats naying to you through the fence. The neighbors there didn't quite know what to think about it. In fact, one neighbor's dog barked until it literally lost its voice. Our friend figured it was probably just a matter of time before someone called their landlord to complain so she knew it was time for the goats to go.
Ahh, but she didn't send them back quite soon enough. Seems we had all underestimated a goat's desire to chew on anything and everything. She woke up the next morning and the goats had chewed through their phone lines. Oops. Guess we all should have thought about that, but sometimes you just forget the little things.
So the goats are back to their regular home, my friend has an appointment to get her phone line repaired, and they've all given the neighbors something to talk about. I just wish that I had a picture of those goats in her backyard! Too cute.
“What’s a guy gotta do to get some
service around here?”
Rocky is my canine nephew. In other
words he lives with my brother and sister in law. He’s their
(shhh!) d-o-g. This is where the delusional part comes in. In spite
of all the evidence to the contrary (ahem, tail, four legs, etc.)
Rocky is convinced that he is in fact human, and expects to be
treated with the appropriate respect.
He’ll be stopping by from time to
time on Homestead Humor, so I just wanted to make sure he was
properly introduced.
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